The Struggle of the Fiends
by Sweet as a Unicorn
Summary: The world is not what it used to be. Monsters, royalty, and adventure. What does the future hold? A group of teenagers determines the fate of the world. SYOC! Closed!
1. Prologue

_Prologue  
_

* * *

The world is not like it used to be. You know, once - a long, long time ago - humans ruled the world. They were the dominant beings; the top of the food chain. There are stories about how humans used to live in towering cities, clustered together like bees in a hive. There were many types of governments and countries. It was a time of advancement. Things called electronics were popular and everyone had some.

But something happened. Something decided that humans shouldn't be on top anymore. Almost out of nowhere all sorts of monsters were. Humans were no longer the top of the food chain. There was a new force in the world and it endangered every human on the face of the world. The only choice was to run. The humans had weapons, but they were no match for the monsters. Those who ran survived and those who didn't… The ones who ran away formed small communities called _Civies_. They built walls around the civies to keep the monsters out. With the walls the monsters just avoided the civies, not needing the struggle.

As years passed, governments started to form back up. At first there were many smaller governments, but soon they came together to form larger, stronger governments. Three to be precise; the Kingdom of Tu, the Commonwealth of Shui, and the Monarchy of Huo. Each one has a bundle of civies underneath making them equally strong.

The Kingdom of Tu rules the eastern part of the land, stretching along the coast. They are led by their royal family. King Roche and Queen Glacia rule the land, soon to be followed by their only child, Prince Reynard. The Royal Family of Tu are known for their strength and stern ruling. They lead a strong, well-equipped army and navy.

The Commonwealth of Shui is found to the north. They lay in the mountains. Their leader is King Isaac. He currently has no family, thus no heir. It doesn't matter much as he is young, so there is no true chance of him leaving without any heir. He instead focuses on his nation, trying to unite all underneath him. Many call him a fair leader, while some call him soft.

And the Monarchy of Huo lies to the west. Their kingdom is definitely unique when it comes to the others. The top half of the land is comprised of swamps, while the lower half is comprised of deserts. Both halves are ruled equally over by the empress, Kaihau. Her father was the emperor before her, ruling with an iron fist. But he, along with Kaihau's mom, died during a plague. She was left as the eldest of the three royal children of Huo to become ruler. She is still young, only just hitting the ripe age of thirteen this year. She tries to be cool and calculating like her father, but does show kindness towards people at times.

There is land to the south, but it is considered unpopulated. There was a kingdom that ruled over it a while ago, but it fell to the monsters. It has now been considered uninhabitable and no one dares enter it.

The world isn't like it used to be. It is split up; broken. Only a single purpose can bring it back together. But one must find the purpose and that is easier said than done.

* * *

 **The beginning of my new story,** _ **The Struggle of the Fiends.**_ **I based it on Miss Anglais'** _ **Wars Amongst Us**_ **. I don't know which way she was going to with her story, seeing how she hasn't been on since 2013, but I have an idea of which way I want to go. The "monsters" are Pokemon, but I haven't introduced that yet.**

 **The SYOC portion of this story is CLOSED!**


	2. Home Sweet Home

**So I had originally written up this chapter and my computer spazzed out on me. All progress was deleted. Sometimes computers just suck.**

* * *

 _"Home Sweet Home"  
_

* * *

Some days Crevan would just stare at the wall, imagining like how it would be to live out the other side. To never have to deal with his "regular" life again. To never have to walk down the same boring dirt road to classes day in and day out. To never have to deal with classes again; no more arithmetic, no more science, and surely no more English. To never feel tired again. But that was all just figments of an imagination. He would always remember how truly pathetic he was, that he was neither brave nor strong enough to survive on the other side. He would be dead within hours of leaving the walls, if not minutes. Still that never seemed to stop him from imagining.

"Crevan, pay attention!"

The teacher, Mr. Locke, snapped. Crevan right now was in his history class, one of the most boring of his classes. It was a required course, but one of the most minimal. The history of the land wasn't very known to the people of Tu, his home kingdom. No one really knew how Tu and the other kingdoms came to be or what happened to the South or where the monsters that were on the other side of the wall came from. The only answer ever presented was "just because".

"Yes sir," Crevan responded.

He tried to focus on the board as Mr. Locke went back to teaching, but found it difficult. His mind began to wander again. He began to wonder the true history behind the Kingdom of Tu and of Yezi, his civvie. He began to wonder what made them form. Obviously the monsters had something to do with it, but he wondered what exactly. There was nothing in his history books and Mr. Locke didn't know anything that the books didn't say.

"King Roche…" Mr. Locke droned on. "And Queen Glacia…"

It felt like the same speech every day for history class. There was no way no one wouldn't be bored with it. Crevan's eyes strayed across the room as he noticed more and more people dozing off. As he began to notice these people, Crevan got a bit upset that he was the only one called out. About half of the class was falling asleep, while the rest were daydreaming. Only like two or three were actually paying attention and those were the students who constantly sucked up to the teachers. So no surprise there.

As Crevan looked at the class, his brown eyes met a pair of large, doe-like green ones. They were those of his friend, Vivian Tully. She sent him a small smile when she noticed him and turned back to face the front of the class. She was beginning to zone out too, though was managing to keep her zoning hidden.

Vivian and Crevan had known each other since the first day of primary school, back when they were both five. They weren't friends however. Both actually hated each other. Crevan was a talker and was quite popular because of that. People found his charisma appealing. Vivian however didn't like to talk at all. She had a cold outer-shell that did the opposite, repealing everyone around her. It wasn't until they were about twelve did they begin to tolerate each other. And just recently did they begin to call each other "friends". Crevan was one of the only friends Vivian had and, though he had many, Vivian was one of the only true friends Crevan had. They seemed to have formed a tight bond.

Crevan let out a silent sigh as he turned his attention back to the front of the room. He didn't particularly want to, but class was only going to last another half hour. He figured he could at least try to pay attention. He ended up falling asleep instead.

When class for the day was finally over, Crevan met up with Vivian. They had a habit of walking to and from school together. They lived near each other, on the other side of Yezi.

"Do you feel refreshed now?" asked Vivian in her typical quiet voice.

"Whaaaaa?" asked Crevan, dragging out the question confused.

"With your nap during class," Vivian clarified.

"Oh, hush now," said Crevan chuckling.

They started to walk side-by-side down the dirt road. It was the main road through Yezi, yet still managed to be dirt. One would think Yezi, being a port, would have some better roads due to income, but still they remained dirt.

"I'm sorry if I do not have the willpower to stay awake when it comes to the same boring stuff," he commented.

"You without willpower, say it ain't so," chuckled Vivian.

Crevan smiled as they continued to stroll and chat. Suddenly they were forced to come to a stop. Crevan ended up running into something, or someone, while he was looking away. He hadn't been going fast, but still he managed to bounce of the wall-like something and fall backwards onto his rear. Vivian had been able to stop herself from running into it. When Crevan looked up, he saw her face contorted into that of pure fear. He looked in front of him and realized who he had run in to and soon his face followed Vivian's suit.

"Watch where you're going, freak," snapped the person.

It was Nazar, a well-known bully in Yezi. He had been standing with his two friends, Cit and Pom. What they were talking about was unknown, but it was probably something negative about a person. The trio was notorious for their rude behavior and targeting everyone.

"Sorry," muttered Crevan.

"What? I didn't hear you, freak," mocked Nazar.

Crevan bit his lip. He had too much pride to repeat himself. Vivian seemed to notice and tapped his shoulder.

"I said sorry!" snapped Crevan.

"I don't think I like your attitude," said Nazar. "What do you guys think?"

"Definitely don't like," agreed Pom with Cit adding a grunt of disapproval at the end.

"Seriously Nazar, can we not do this today?" asked Crevan.

"Have you suddenly grown a backbone now, O'Brien?" asked Nazar.

"That's not-" Crevan went to respond but was interrupted by a large boom.

The booming noise had come from the nearby section of the wall.

"What was that?" asked Crevan.

* * *

 **Not how I was planning on it going the first chapter, but I think this works. Tell me what you think in the reviews.**

 **NOTICE! Any characters not accepted to main cast list will make appearances as small, minor characters. Just so you know… Main cast list can be found on my profile under "The Struggle of the Fiends".  
**


	3. Monsters from the Other Side

_Last time on the Struggle of the Fiends…_

 _In the civvie of Yezi, Tu there lives a teenage boy named Crevan. With his friend, Vivian, he lives the normal life. He has to deal with both his school and personal lives along with trying to follow the rules set for him. He wishes to be brave and go on adventures he only dreams about, but is too scared. When walking home from school with Vivian, Crevan ends up crashing into the civvie's well-known bully, Nazar. Nazar begins to pick on Crevan with the help of his two goons. They are interrupted however by a large, unknown boom._

* * *

 _"Monsters from the Other Side"  
_

* * *

"What was that?" asked Crevan.

The large booming noise that had interrupted them had come from close by. It had sounded like it actually came from near the wall. Suddenly sirens began to sound.

"It can't be," muttered Nazar.

"Nazar, what's going on?" asked Pom.

"Yeah, what?" asked Cit.

"Shit!" cursed Nazar, running in the opposite direction.

Even without knowing what was going on, Pom and Cit ran after him. Nazar had looked very concerned, which puzzled Crevan. Nazar was never scared and yet he was showing pure terror. It wasn't like him. Whatever could make Nazar scared witless was definitely something Crevan did not want to meet.

"Crevan, we need to get out of here," said Vivian.

"Why? What's going on?" asked Crevan.

"Seriously, you were asleep for _that_ part too?" Vivian asked. "Seriously, that siren right there Crevan…"

"Yeah?"

"That siren means there has been an attack," said Vivian.

"An attack?" repeated Crevan. "An attack."

An attack by monsters, she meant? There would be no way. Yezi was never attacked by monsters, at least not by monsters large enough to make any damage. They always went for the bigger civvies, which Yezi was far from. While it may look large at first, it was merely just spread out. It was actually quite small and had not much substance to it. The idea of monsters attacking Yezi was absurd.

"Seriously! Crevan, we need to go!" shouted Vivian.

She tugged on his arm, but he remained still. Monsters attacking were uncommon and so was the idea of him ever facing on. If one thing completely absurd was happening, why not a second? He twisted out of Vivian's grasp and darted towards where the boom came from. Was he growing a spine? Was this really the appropriate time for him to grow a spine? Probably not, but he was going to just go with his feeling. He wanted to see a monster, to know what one looked like, how they acted. He would never have a chance to do so again.

"Crevan!"

He could hear Vivian call out his name, but he didn't turn back. He had to keep looking forward or he would want to turn back.

The sound came from nearby, so it wasn't long until he hit the area from where it came from. He gawked at the sight. A hole, about seven feet high, was in the wall. The wall around Yezi is only ten feet tall, so the hole had cause significant damage. The three feet remaining on top was beginning to crumble. There were guards everywhere, rushing around and rambling off orders. They seemed to completely ignore Crevan, instead were worrying about the hole.

"What the hell caused that?" Crevan asked himself.

As if to answer his question, a long, bellowing cry called out.

"Draaaaaaaa-Gooooon!"

Crevan covered his ears due to the high pitch of the cry. He looked about, but couldn't find the creature wailing. The guards seemed to be having the same trouble.

"Draaaaaa!" it cried out again, though much shorter.

The cry was followed by another boom. It seemed to be coming from behind Crevan. He whipped around, confused how it managed to escape him. He had watched towards it, not allowing anything to slip by him unnoticed and yet there was the noise coming from behind him.

He ran down the street and turned a corner. There, firing some plasma-like ball at some buildings, was a monster. A large, orange, dragon-like monster with a dumb-looking, rounded face. If it hadn't been exploding stuff, Crevan would call it stupid looking, but he was currently too afraid to do so at the moment. It was blasting at a house with what sounded like to be filled with a family.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" he whispered to himself.

"Over here!" guards began to yell.

The monster turned its head mid-plasma blast from the house to the guards, causing a random blast to fly in direction towards Crevan. He dived out of the way, the blast barely missing him. The guards scattered however when the monster locked on them. It was like they didn't necessarily knew what they were doing and were too afraid to deal with the monster. Crevan could understand them being afraid, but they were guards. Didn't they train for scenarios like this?

"I need to get out of here," he muttered, getting up.

He didn't know what he was thinking when he ran over here, but it was not very smart. He couldn't do anything. The only thing he could do now was run away. He began to stagger away.

"Draaaaa!"

He knew what came next and dove behind a barrel. A blast was sent down the road. He remained hidden as he heard guards cry out.

"What is going on?" asked Crevan, beginning to cry.

He looked back to the hole in the wall. Some smaller monsters were beginning to come in. They were easy to deal with, but this thing. This was a whole new level. Crevan looked up to the sky, wishing for something to happen in their favour. All he saw was a lone bird. He felt like right then, they were one in the same. Both were completely alone.

"Wi~" a faint cry called out.

Another monster was coming close, but Crevan couldn't pinpoint its location. With all the problems the dragon-like monster was causing, he couldn't hear the cry well enough to know where it was.

"Wingull!" the cry became louder.

"That's weird, I hear it coming from-" Crevan cut himself off as his vision darted back up.

The once single, high-flying bird was now diving down towards earth at break neck speeds. Crevan had thought it to be a bird at least, but it turns out it was not. Instead it was a winged monster that looked eerily similar to a bird.

"They can fly now?!" he shouted in a mixture of amazement and horror.

He began to wonder how many times he thought them to be just birds, but they were truly monsters just flying high.

"Wiiiiin-Guuuull!" the monster cried out, pulling up before hitting the ground.

"It's going to join up with the other one," Crevan thought aloud.

But what happened next threw him for a loop.

* * *

 **And that is where we are going to end it for today. I have a question, what do you guys think of the length of the chapters? They are about 1,000 words. I can try to write more if you guys want longer.**

 **So far, Dragonite has made an appearance as the first monster to appear in the story. Wingull comes in at a [very] close second.**

 ***7 feet is about 2 meters.**


	4. Change in Loyalties: Monsters

_Last Time of the Struggles of the Fiends…_

 _We met Crevan and Vivian, teenagers living in the civvie, Yezi, somewhere in the Kingdom of Tu. Crevan craves adventure, even in the slightest, while his fear holds him back. One day, he gets his wish. A monster, an orange dragon, crashed through the wall of their civvie. Crevan found that the experience was too much and went to run away, but instead he got stuck in a hiding place and forced to watch the attack go down as the guards panic. If that wasn't bad enough, a bird monster showed up to join the fight._

* * *

" _Change in Loyalties: Monsters"_

* * *

"Wiin-Guulll!" the flying monster screeched as it flew towards the chaos.

Crevan held his breath as he watched the scene unfold. He knew that the monsters were going to team-up together. Why wouldn't they? They were alike and both hated humans. All the monsters hated humans, or so that is what everyone was taught in school, Crevan being no different.

"What the?!" Crevan shouted out.

Instead of attacking some guards that had been cornered by the dragon monster, the flier aimed right at the dragon itself. With a swift move of its wings, the bird sent multiple slices of winds at the dragon. The attack picked up dirt, causing the scene to become much more tense as the dirt particles settled. When everything finally settled down, both the dragon and the bird were staring at each other. The dragon glared at the bird, while the bird just hovered, flew, in a single place, while sending the same glare back. The cornered guards took advantage of this and made a run for it. Crevan was pretty sure he should too, but couldn't seem to pull himself away. Two monsters were attacking each other. How many times would you get to see that in your life?

"Dra-goon-ITE!" shouted the dragon as it braced its feet, readying to attack.

"Win-gull!" shouted the bird, the pace it flapped its wings not changing even in the slightest.

"Dra!" the dragon replied.

Its wings on the back that seemed too small to lift it began to flap. Crevan guessed it could fly, but wondered why it chose to go through the wall if it could just merely fly over it. The wings flapped quickly and the dragon's feet began to lift off the ground. But suddenly, with a loud thud, the dragon's feet hit the ground once more. It appeared that one of its wings was injured, causing it to be unable to fly. Crevan noticed this, as did the bird monster. Without warning, the bird charged the dragon at break neck speeds. It quickly attacked the dragon, changes spots with each attack to keep its opponent guessing. The dragon was caught by surprised and didn't have enough time to react to the attack. By the time the bird finally stopped and went back to hovering, the dragon had multiple cuts and bruises along its body.

"Dra-dra-a," the dragon whimpered, staggering back.

The dragon looked surprised by the bird, but the bird couldn't care less. It appeared readying itself to attack again. The dragon took multiple small steps back as it tried to slowly get away from the bird. The bird began to inch forward, torturing the injured dragon. The dragon panicked. Crevan never thought a dragon would be scared and panicking, but he guessed there was a new thing for everything.

"D-dr-ra!" the dragon shouted, sending a beam towards the bird.

The bird easily dodged the beam, which was then sent into a house right beside Crevan. The wall exploded, causing the debris to get him a bit. His arm began to hurt from some of the stone hitting him, but he didn't notice it really. He needed to see how this played out. He hoped the bird wouldn't continue the attack on the town once it scared the dragon away.

When the bird was dodging the attack, the dragon made a run for it. The bird chased after it, but once it made it through the hole in the wall, the chase stopped. The bird instead began to circle in the air above the wall, watching as the dragon ran for it. When the dragon was completely out of sight, the bird swooped back down and circled through the town. Without doing anything else but observing something, the bird flew off.

"That was definitely weird," said Crevan.

* * *

Vivian could hear the fighting quiet down. She hoped that Crevan hadn't gotten himself hurt or worse. He was smart enough to stay out of major danger, she hoped. But she couldn't help but worry. He was her friend after all, the only one she had. She couldn't stand losing another person to a monster.

At the moment though, she had to believe in Crevan's common sense. She was stuck where she was; a safety bunker beneath the school. The ones with her was Nazar and his goons, along with Mr. Locke and some other students that stayed a bit behind. The bunker was dark and small. They were forced to stick close together, making her very uncomfortable. Why did people have to be so close to her? She cursed the attacking monster that forced her into human contact, even indirect.

"Do you think it's safe?" whispered Cit to Nazar.

Nazar, however, didn't respond. He didn't want his fear to show through his speech. Everyone knew he was terrified of monsters. While everyone was afraid of the monsters, Nazar was deathly afraid of them. But no one would ever point out that fact to his face unless they wanted to face his wrath.

"Nazar, when do you think we can leave?" asked Pom.

This was getting annoying thought Vivian. While she was scared, she felt useless just sitting there. Besides, the sounds stopped, so the attack had probably stopped too, right?

Vivian let out a long sigh and stood straight up.

"Tully, what do you think you are doing?" asked Mr. Locke.

Vivian simply ignored him and walked towards the door to the outside.

"Tully, sit back down!" ordered Mr. Locke.

She, instead, just opened the door and walked through. She closed the door on everyone trying to get her to go back inside.

Outside the civvie seemed normal, peaceful even. Everything was in its right place. Nothing by the school had been damaged. If this area hadn't been touched by the monster, chances were that the damaged caused was small. The school was close to the boom in the wall, so the school, or at least the surrounding buildings, would be attacked. Vivian began to look around as she headed towards where she had heard the sound and where Crevan had run too.

"Crevan, you better still be alive," she whispered as she treaded carefully.

As she walked on, the buildins started to get worse and worse. There had definitely been a monster there. No question about it. There was everything from singed walls to buildings in complete rubble. Guards seemed scarce, but there were some rushing around trying to get people out of demolished homes. None of them seemed to worry about Vivian.

"Stop!"

The sudden command made Vivian stop in her tracks. It wasn't until standing still for a couple of seconds did she realize that they weren't talking to her, but shoutin at a figure running through the wreckage. The figure was wearing a hood, covering their physical appearance. But the red colouring of the cape was out of place in Tu. The colours of Tu were shades of green and brown. Red used for such things as capes and cloaks tended to be representing that of the west, the Monarchy of Huo.

"I said stop!" the guard chasing them shouted again.

The figure was running towards Vivian. Vivian went to get out of the way, but the figure followed her. It was like they were aiming for her. Before Vivian could react, the figure reached her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Listen to me," an ultra-feminine voice whispered.

Vivian remained silent.

"Get out of here. Find the truth outside the walls," the figure spoke.

Without any other word, the figure took off again. The guard darted passed Vivian, only focusing on the hooded girl. This was all good, seeing Vivian didn't want to get into trouble. She was too busy contemplating what the girl had told her. The _truth outside the walls_ seemed vague to her, but she was curious was the girl meant by that. Vivian knew she probably shouldn't trust anyone she couldn't see the face of, but the girl's voice sounded reassuring. Vivian felt only sincerity behind the girl's words.

"Vivian?"

She turned around to find Crevan holding his arm, leaning against a wall behind her.

* * *

 **This chapter was a little longer this time. I was running out what to write about for this chapter, so I didn't want to stretch it too much longer as it would seem like it was running in circles. At least I didn't really leave it on a cliff hanger this time. So tell me what you think? What are you most looking forward to seeing in this story? What do you think is going to happen next?**

 **So about the cape thing. Each kingdom has a colour scheme of sorts that goes in their capes, cloaks, and armor. This allows them to tell allies verses enemies on the battlefield. Tu has greens, leaning towards more mossy greens. Shui has blues, leaning towards a lighter sky blue. Huo has reds, leaning towards maroon.**

 **And finally, thank you all for leaving so many wonderful reviews. I read every single one and appreciate them all. Thank you again.**


	5. Escaping It Almost Sounds Too Easy

_Last Time on the Struggle of the Fiends…_

 _The fight with the orange dragon monster came to an end. In a surprising turn of events, a bird monster came in and ending up scaring away the dragon monster. When the fight was over, the bird monster even flew away. Vivian went to search for Crevan, but before she could find him, she found something else. In the form of a hooded girl who spoke a strange message to her before running away. While Vivian was wondering what the message meant, Crevan found her instead._

* * *

" _Escaping; It Sounds Almost Too Easy"_

* * *

Vivian and Crevan had somehow managed to make it back to Crevan's house in one piece. They weren't entirely sure how they managed to get back without anyone stopping them to question them, but they did. Vivian was sure someone had seen the hooded girl talk to her and would question Vivian on what she said. She couldn't handle much more excitement for the day and was very glad that no one had.

"So that girl," Crevan prodded, sitting on the floor of his bedroom.

Vivian had mentioned the brief interaction with the hooded girl just slightly when they walked back. She was more focused on his arm, which he continued to grip the entire way, than actually trying to tell him the story. They ended up walking to Vivian's home first. Her mom ended up rushing them as soon as they walked in, happy to see they were alright. The main reason they went there first was Vivian's mom, Ms. Leila Tully, was pretty good with first aid. She was always helping out patch up the wounded when not working at the family's bakery. After a couple of hugs and a good, stern questioning on why they weren't hiding at the school still due to the attack, Ms. Tully ended up patching up Crevan good as new.

Afterwards, they walked over to Crevan's home, which was empty; not surprising really. His dad helped out in the reserves, back-up guards for Yezi just in case something bad happened. Seeing how something bad happened, it was likely his dad was sent out to help. His mom was probably helping get people to shelter, as she too was very active in the community and helping out. So it was no shock to Crevan that neither were home.

"At least we can talk in peace," he had said, walking up to his room.

Once at his room, Crevan took his normal spot on the floor, leaning against his bed. It may not seem comfy, but neither was his bed. The floor at least was firm. Vivian perched herself up on his drawers, letting her legs dangle.

"So about that girl," he said.

"Yeah, I don't know if _they_ truly were a girl or not, but they had a very feminine voice," corrected Vivian. "Anyway, they were being chased by the guard and was wearing a red hooded cloak."

"Probably the reason why they were being chased by the guard. Red usually means "Huo", so the guards probably thought they was a spy," said Crevan. "I mean, we don't have the worst relationship with the nation, but Tu and Huo are surely not friends. They probably saw the red cloak and thought they led the monster here and snuck in during the fight to spy."

"Yeah, well, I think they did sneak in during the fight, but I don't think they led the monster here," said Vivian.

"Why's that?" asked Crevan.

"They didn't seem hostile. It's not like you can really tell after only exchanging ten words and never seeing the person's face, but I just didn't feel hostility," explained Vivian.

"What did they say now? You just mentioned something about the wall and that's it," said Crevan.

"Oh right," said Vivian, realizing the most important part had been left out. "They said, " _Get out of here. Find the truth outside the walls_ ", or something like that."

Crevan's eyes narrowed as he began to think. Leaning his head back, he looked up at the ceiling and let out a lengthy sigh.

"What is it?" asked Vivian.

"Well, there is only one thing that could mean," said Crevan.

When Vivian did not answer, Crevan continued.

"We should leave the walls," he said bluntly.

Vivian gasped. She normally wouldn't respond to Crevan's wild theories so much as she knew, normally, he wouldn't go fully through with them and if he did, he wouldn't really get hurt that much. But to go outside the walls, into the forests with monsters in them… Well, it was ludicrous. She couldn't help but gasp at such a ridiculous idea.

"I'm taking it by that gasp, you find my translation of it stupid," Crevan said.

"Of course I find it stupid. It is stupid and you're stupid for even thinking that," she said. "The walls are meant to protect us from those monsters, like the one that attacked us. Why would we leave?"

Crevan leaned his head back once more.

"I didn't tell you, but you know how that monster left?" asked Crevan.

"No…" answered Vivian.

"A flying bird-like monster came, swooping down from the sky. At first I thought it was just a bird, but it turned out it was another one," explained Crevan. "I thought it was going to team up with the original monster, but instead it attacked it. The bird attacked the monster, Viv. It wounded the original monster and cause it to flee. When the original monster finally left, the bird monster just flew away. Like it just wanted to protect us."

He looked back at Vivian.

"I don't think all those monsters we hear about are bad," he said.

"Listen to yourself! One of _those monsters_ attacked us!" Vivian said.

"Yeah and one of them protected us," Crevan argued. "Some people are bad, some are good. So why can't that be applied to these _monsters_?"

Vivian didn't know how to react to that statement. She was desperately trying to stop Crevan from even thinking of leaving the walls. It was suicidal; at least that was what they had always been taught. Vivian didn't want to see her only friend die because everything they heard turned out to be correct.

"Maybe that is what Red Hood was talking about," said Crevan. "Maybe they were saying that everything we heard, everything we were taught, all of that was wrong. Maybe they were saying we need to leave these walls because they are blinding us to the outside world. Maybe they were saying we need to leave to see the truth behind these _monsters_."

Vivian crossed her arms.

"Seriously, you're crazy and I am not going with you on this suicide trek," she said.

"Vivian, really?" Crevan asked. "We'll just leave for less than a day; an afternoon really. We won't even stray far. If it turns out to be truly dangerous, we can come running back. But do you really want to be left wondering what if it isn't dangerous at all?"

* * *

 **I was going to make this longer, as I haven't updated in a while, but the lock-out that happened yesterday made me unable to get to the character forms and made me unable to write anything. I know, excuses, excuses. I was going to update this on Friday actually, but I got sick. I didn't go on my computer at all and just slept all day and night. I finally started to feel better late Monday and was going to continue writing Tuesday. I ended up writing this today, so I hope that is alright.**

 **Actually I have some good news. Good news? I guess it's good news. I have a schedule set up for my writing, thus something for you to look forward to. [Schedule can be found on my profile, beneath the Announcements section.] This story has been set to be updated every Friday. Meaning this upcoming Friday there will be a new update. Well, see you than.**


	6. Making Preparations

_Last Time on the Struggle of the Fiends…_

 _Crevan and Vivian found each other and went back to Crevan's place. There they discussed what the other encountered; Vivian with the cloaked girl and Crevan with the "monsters". Each took the message given to them differently. Vivian just wanted to stay with inside the wall, while Crevan thought they needed to do a little exploring outside them._

* * *

" _Making Preparations"_

* * *

That phrase, "easier said than done", Crevan finally understood it. It wasn't easy, but somehow he managed to convince Vivian to go outside the wall with him. She finally caved in after he agreed only going outside for an hour, no more than that. He wasn't going to argue that anyway. He was kind of scared being outside of the place he deemed "safe" his entire life, too. An hour would be more than enough for him and now he had someone to rely on to help him out.

After the discussion, Vivian went back to her place. Crevan was left trying to gather enough resources for their little expedition all without letting his parents in on their plans. They arrived later in the day. His mom came home first after escorting the elderly to a safe house in the middle of the city.

"Crevan! Why weren't you at your school's bunker?" his mom asked. "Your teacher said Vivian had arrived, but you were completely gone! And then Vivian left without getting the all clear?!"

Crevan bit his lip. He wasn't going to tell his mom that he snuck away to watch the monsters fight. And he sure as heck wasn't going to tell her he was up close and personal with them. He just thought of his injured arm and how she would panic if she knew about it.

"Vivian and I were walking home when the wall got attacked. During the panic, I got separated from the rest of my classmates, including Vivian, and was stranded in one of the alley ways nearby. During the attacks I was safe, so you don't need to worry," Crevan lied. "Apparently, Vivian was worried about me and after not hearing anything for a bit, she ran out to find me. She already got an earful from her mom, so need to worry."

Really, there was a lot to worry about, but Crevan was not about to say that. He knew what she thought of the monsters and how evil they were to her. She would never believe him about the bird-monster. At least Vivian listened to him when he told her about it, but his mom wouldn't even let him finish the story. She would be way too angry to let him, so it was just smart to lie.

"As long as you're safe, I guess," she said, hugging him. "But next time, pay attention and get to one of the bunkers."

"Alright Mom," he said.

His dad came home later. Much like his mom, Crevan's dad reeled in to him about safety and always trying to find a bunker to hide in. His dad was a bit stricter, but finally let him go after making sure Crevan knew how the monsters could have killed him. Crevan finally was allowed to go about the rest of his day, now night, to prepare for the next day. He hoped Vivian hadn't backed out last minute and was preparing too.

* * *

 **I'm sorry for the pretty much "half-chapter". I've gotten sick again. I don't think I truly got better, just a little less sick. I couldn't upload Friday because of this. I plan on uploading this Friday and keeping my schedule, even if it means another "half-chapter". Hopefully I will be able to get better and upload a good, long chapter (that you guys deserve), but only time can tell if I get any better by then. Until next time and remember to leave your thoughts in the forms of reviews. :)**


	7. Walls, Picnics, and Monsters! Oh My!

_Last Time on the Struggle of the Fiends…_

 _Crevan and Vivian agreed on leaving the safety of their civvie, though for no more than an hour. Crevan grew excited for the adventure he imagined awaiting for him. Vivian seemed more skeptical, though still agreed._

* * *

" _Walls, Picnics, and Monsters! Oh My!"_

* * *

Crevan met Vivian out her house. With Crevan's parents going back to work on helping rebuild Yezi and Vivian's mom setting up the bakery for the day, they were safe enough to talk through their plan once more.

"You ready?" asked Crevan.

Vivian's face read that she was definitely "not ready". Her green eyes seemed to be shaking while she slouched so much that she looked like she was about to collapse in on herself. If it weren't for her standard bun, her red, chaotic hair would be falling in her face.

"You couldn't look anymore scared," Crevan said.

Vivian gave a small, cough-like laugh. She looked Crevan in the eye.

"And you're not scared?" she asked almost sarcastically. "Anyone about to do what we are planning would be scared."

Of course Crevan was scared, but that didn't mean he was going to back out. He was more curious than he was scared. He wanted to know the reason behind the bird monster's help and the secret meaning behind the girl's message. And he desperately wanted to prove to himself whether or not the walls were really hurting everyone and just protecting their ignorance.

"Come on," he said, ignoring Vivian's question.

He waved for her to follow him and began to walk away. Vivian shuffled after him and fell into step beside him. They walked in silence for a bit before Vivian broke it with a sneeze.

"Bless you," Crevan said.

"Thanks," Vivian responded. She paused before continuing. "Um, what did you tell your parents when they saw what you had in your bag?"

"What do you mean?" asked Crevan.

"Well, with all the supplies you have, they had to wonder. I mean, that is a whole lot more than we ever took to school before," said Vivian.

"Oh," Crevan said, finally understanding.

He shifted the rucksack he had slung over his shoulder. It was weighted down more than usual. Instead of the typical text books he normally carried, it held food, some basic weapons –knives and such – along with some other basic survival things that might come in handy. While they were only planning on being out there for an hour, he was afraid not to come prepared. Really, only idiots would go out their completely blind without help. They were already jumping out their blind, they weren't going to do so without some aide.

"They didn't notice," Crevan said. "I packed it when they weren't looking."

Vivian gave a solid "oh" and shifted her own bag.

"Did your mom ask you?" asked Crevan.

Vivian nodded.

"I grabbed some bread this morning, along with some jam and a butter knife," she responded. "My mom wondered why I was taking it, the butter knife. Especially when the school would kindly supply with one to use. I ended up lying to her."

"Well, obviously," said Crevan. "I highly doubt you would be here now if you told the truth. I highly doubt _I_ would be here if you told the truth. What did you say?"

"I told her that there was a kid that liked to lick all the silverware in the school-building," Vivian said.

"Really?" asked Crevan, stifling laughter as the image of someone going around licking every single fork, spoon, and knife in the school.

"She even gave me some forks and spoons for us to use," Vivian said proudly, chuckling. "When I told her that, all I could think of was Nazar."

"Oh my," Crevan laughed. "Could you imagine Nazar actually going around licking silverware? I imagine he would do it because he was claiming his territory."

"Yeah," Vivian laughed along. She began to mock Nazar, "This spoon right here is mine. I now claim this fork in the name of the mighty Nazar!"

The two continued to laugh about as they walked down the street.

* * *

After about ten minutes of walking, they reached a part of the wall. With a hole in the wall, most of the support went to that area. People were put onto watch, though most of it, again, was concentrated near the hole. This section of the wall was almost completely barren, minus a single guide who had fallen asleep at the post.

"I wonder how boring it can be to stand watch by yourself," whispered Crevan.

"I can only imagine," Vivian whispered back.

They had figured out the day before that certain area of the wall would have little to no guards about. They were planning on walking the whole length if they had to. Thankfully, and luckily enough, they managed to find a perfect spot nearby. With the guard sleeping, they would easily be able to get out this way without anyone noticing. Crevan had originally thought of trying to make it past the guards and lookouts and go through the hole. It was Vivian who had pointed out how stupid and overly risky that plan was. She suggested this way.

"Hope you're ready now," Crevan whispered.

"No, but I'll go anyway," Vivian responded in an equally hushed voice.

Slowly and steadily they began to climb the wall. Crevan was a bit more weighted down that he took a bit longer, while Vivian was scaling the wall with ease. With one foot over another and one hand followed by the other, the two continued up the wall. The handholds and footings weren't that easy to find on the stone wall, so they had to take advantage of even the smallest of ones they would find. Growing up in a civvie, neither of the teens ever found need to climb. Sure they had climbed ladders and ropes before. Everyone had though either going to school or being on a boat. But this kind of climbing, pretty much free climbing, wasn't necessarily in their life. They had to take it slow to be able to do it safely.

"Hurry up," Vivian quietly called out to Crevan.

After about fifteen minutes or so, she had managed to reach the top of the wall, while Crevan was taken a bit longer. The weight of his bag was beginning to get to him. He was tiring out quicker than he had thought he would. He was beginning to regret taking so much as well as not getting enough sleep the night before. Those two things mixed together, he was not at his prime perfection.

Suddenly the two began to hear the sounds of what seemed to be stirring. It sounded like the guard, who had fell asleep in the guard tower beside them, was beginning to wake up. If that didn't cause enough pressure to an already pressurized situation.

Somewhere deep down in Crevan's being, he found some sort of strength. Where this strength came from, he didn't know nor did he care. He was just happy to find it. His pace quickened at almost twice its original speed. He quickly reached to the top of the wall, meeting up with Vivian. He didn't have enough time to celebrate, because where they were at, they could see the guard tower. They could also see the guard beginning to slowly move about.

Crevan pointed down and Vivian nodded. They flipped their legs down and began to climb down. It was easier to go down than it was to get up the damned wall. That was for sure. They made it down in a fraction of the time it took them to climb up. By the time they heard the guard walking around, they were on the ground. They ran to a nearby group of shrubs and hid in it. They hoped that they were small enough and the brush was big enough for them to be successfully hidden.

After a minute, Crevan peeked from the brush and noticed the guard had gone back to his seat and fallen back to sleep.

"Looks like he woke up enough to do his duty for a minute," said Crevan."What a tough life."

He rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Vivian. She was shaking. It was a surprise that the guard didn't find them due to just her shaking. Crevan could hear the leaves vibrating because of Vivian.

"We're on the other side," she said, just realizing where she was.

"Yes and now we can see for ourselves what is really true," said Crevan.

Vivian remained still, only moving due to her shakes. Crevan sighed.

"How about we have some jam to calm our nerves?" he suggested.

* * *

 **They are on the other side of the wall! Finally, right? It won't be long before other characters are slowly introduced, along with the full aspect of "Pokemon", which made this a Pokemon fanfic. I hope this chapter makes up for the previous chapter. I definitely made it much longer and got them out of the wall. Next chapter they will experience life outside the wall, whatever that means.**


	8. Take A Hike

_Last Time on the Struggle of the Fiends…_

 _Vivian and Crevan had planned their day-trip to outside the wall; something both teens had grown anxious about, though for completely different reasons. Despite Vivian not wanting to go, she followed Crevan. They snuck over the wall, almost getting caught in the process. They managed to get passed without attracting the attention of the napping guard. They finally made to the other side, something neither of them ever thought they would do in their lifetime._

* * *

" _Take A Hike"_

* * *

"This is it," Crevan said, chomping down on a piece of bread.

They were sitting on the ground, leaning against a fallen tree. Between them, laid out on a small scarf, was their bread and jam that Vivian had brought. They had down what Crevan suggested; taken a snack break. Vivian had come down a little bit, but was still obviously nervous. Crevan however grew more and more ready to explore.

The forest was prettier than he had imagined. The trees were so tall. He couldn't see the top of them from the ground, no matter how hard he would stare. The grass was so soft, though there were patches of dirt throughout. The dirt felt different than the dirt in the civvie too. Everything was so different, he couldn't contain himself. The only thing keeping him in one place was Vivian.

"I don't like it," Vivian muttered in between two bites.

Crevan paused and looked over at his friend.

"What isn't there to like?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe the thought that a monster is going to attack me at any moment," she responded.

"You expect the worst and you'll end up getting just that," said Crevan. "Try thinking more positively. I mean, _I haven't_ seen a monster yet."

Vivian pouted, her eyes darting around just in case. Still she remained silent, only reassuring Crevan he was right. He smiled and turned his attention back to his bread.

"This is good bread," he said. "And the jam ain't half bad either."

Vivian nodded.

"My mom keeps getting better day after day," she said.

"When are you going to start baking this good?" asked Crevan.

Vivian shrugged. That was the end of the conversation, but Crevan could tell Vivian was starting to relax with the small chat. He continued to bring up small things, like rock colours and what she thought about people around the civvie. Not huge topics, some even considerably trivial, but they took Vivian's mind off of the monsters and other dangers.

"I don't mind her," said Vivian. "I mean, I'm not friends with her or anything, but she isn't as bad as Nazar."

"Oh my, how I hate her," said Crevan. "Besides, no one can be as bad as Nazar."

"True," Vivian chuckled.

About a half-hour had passed with just some idle chit-chat. They had continued to eat their bread over the time, finally finishing it off after the half-hour.

"Looks like we are done," said Crevan, gesturing the disappeared bread.

"Yup," Vivian responded, already cleaning up the area.

She closed up the jam jar and placed the jar, scarf, and silverware in her bag. She had a flat expression on her face, evidence she wasn't really scared anymore. She still didn't want to be there, but she wasn't about to start shaking again.

"Okay. Should we just look around a bit?" asked Crevan.

"Why? Looking for monsters?" asked Vivian.

"Well, we didn't come out here to have a picnic," he pointed out. "And we still have some time left before we should go back."

Vivian remained silent for quite some time, trying to think of what to say.

"We see a monster, we run back to the wall," she said.

"Well, yeah," Crevan said. "I'm not about to go running into danger."

"Says the guy who ran into danger the other day," Vivian pointed out.

Crevan bit his lip and looked down. He had forgotten that already and the embarrassment of Vivian reminding him of his stupidity felt downright awkward. He gave his head a slight shook, enough for him to clear his thoughts and for Vivian not to notice. He then turned around, back to Vivian, and pointed forward.

"Well, let's go!" he cheered.

The boy began to march onward, making Vivian have to jog to catch up with him. Crevan continued to look forward, happy to see what might await him. Vivian looked at him and just shook her head. He may be strange, but he was who he was. No doubt about that.

* * *

An hour passed of them just walking. There had been some chatting, but not a whole lot. They wanted to remain quiet just in case there was a creature nearby. Best not to alert their presence to everyone, and everything, in the forest.

"We should start heading back," Vivian finally said.

Crevan huffed. They hadn't seen anything except for the flora and that didn't necessarily constitute as an adventure, unless you were a botanist. He had at least hoped to see something interesting, something to show the girl's words to be important. _Find the truth behind the walls._ So far all they had found was trees and dirt, and while those were pretty, they certainly weren't "the truth". Crevan looked up at the sun peeking through the trees' canopy. Right now he kind of felt like the sun. He could see the top layer the forest was showing him, but was being blocked from something truly amazing. He looked at Vivian and nodded.

"You're right," he said. "I guess, this was pointless."

Vivian shook her head.

"At least we got to see the prettiness of the forest," she said. "I mean, I don't particularly appreciate the dangers, but the beauty of all this, I like that."

Crevan smiled.

"I guess we should get moving," he said. "Double pace."

He began to walk back the way they came, Vivian in tow, when they heard a rustling from some nearby bushes. Vivian darted back and Crevan stepped in front of her, grabbing a large stick from the ground to use as a weapon. The bush just twitched at first before truly starting to shake.

"Crevan!" Vivian cried.

The bush stopped shaking, but soon after a figure jumped out. Vivian yelped and Crevan went to swing before stopping.

* * *

 **This chapter was actually a lot bigger, but it ended up having two chapters worth of content that I needed to scale it down. We just met our first Pokemon outside the wall. Hint: it is neither Dragonite nor is it Wingull.**


	9. The Girl in the Red Hood

**IMPORTANT!** **If you enjoy submitting characters for SYOC's, please read the AU at the end.**

* * *

 _Last Time on the Struggle of the Fiends…_

 _The two friends had made it over the wall and finally began to calm their nerves. Crevan suggested that they do a bit of exploring, but after an hour, and to Crevan's disappointment, they found nothing. That is until a nearby bush began to rustle…_

* * *

" _The Girl in the Red Hood"_

* * *

The bush went from a true tremble to a complete stop. Crevan took a step forward, but jumped back when a figure jumped out. He went to swing in response to Vivian's yelp; though stopped when he got a better look. Instead of the threatening beast both expected, standing in front of them was something that looked to be a walking egg. The foot tall creature was mostly consisting of a white egg with red and blue hollow triangular designs decorating it. The top portion was broken off leaving a jagged edge. From the hole was a small pastel yellow head that had three spikes coming from the top of it. It had a small face with oval, black eyes and a constant smile. It walked on two little stubby legs poking out from the bottom of the egg and pushed away the leaves with its two little stubby arms that appeared from the sides.

"What is that?" Crevan asked.

Vivian stepped out from behind him and knelt down. The thing didn't look too dangerous. It was so small and its smile was too adorable.

"To-ge-pi!" the small creature called out.

"Toe-gah-pee?" Vivian mimicked.

She looked up at Crevan who shrugged. He dropped the stick and kneeled down beside her.

"I guess we found something after all," said Crevan.

"To-ge!" the creature cheered.

Vivian tilted her head and drew her hand close to the egg-creature. Crevan remained still as he watched Vivian. With a held breath, she plopped her opened hand on the thing's head. Instead of getting angry, scared, or any other emotion they were expecting, the creature cheered once more, crying out the strange combination of noises; "to-ge-pi". Vivian's worried expression vanished almost instantaneously as she patted the little one's head.

"I thought they were all supposed to be big and scary," said Vivian.

"Well, that bird one wasn't very big and looked more like a seagull," said Crevan. "And when have seagulls ever been scary?"

"Do you think back home knows of these creatures?" asked Vivian.

"Maybe," answered Crevan. "Maybe not."

Vivian stopped patting the creature's head and stood up. Crevan followed her lead and stood up, leaving a very confused little creature to look up at them, upset at the pettings and attention stopping.

"What now?" asked Vivian.

"What do you mean?" asked Crevan.

"What do we do now? Obviously not all of them are dangerous," said Vivian. "At least there are two that aren't. If there are two that are friendly towards humans, there has to be more. Right? So what do we do about it?"

Crevan paused.

"I don't know," he said.

"To-ge!" the creature cheered, racing passed the two legs.

Crevan and Vivian turned around, following the little guy.

"I see you actually did leave," a familiar red-cloaked figure spoke.

* * *

The little creature raced over to the feet of the figure and began to jump around them. She knelt down and picked up the creature gently.

"You make new friends?" she asked the creature.

Crevan looked over at Vivian. Vivian stared at the girl, not even blinking. Her unwavering gaze seemed so powerful, full of more emotion than Crevan had ever seen in Vivian. He couldn't tell if it was anger, fear, or just recollection, but it was truly overflowing with strong emotions. From this look, he could tell Vivian recognized her, which meant that this was the same red-cloaked girl from before.

Though her face was hidden by the hood, when the cloaked girl looked up, Vivian could feel her stare being met.

"You listened," the girl said.

"Who are you?" asked Crevan.

The cloaked girl looked over at Crevan, as if she hadn't acknowledged his presence yet. She looked back down at the creature and gave a small nod. The nod wasn't really directed at the little guy, but more so towards herself. She sighed and placed the egg-creature back down. She reached out from beneath her cloak and lowered her hood.

Beneath the hood appeared a black-haired girl. Her hair was cut in a short, pageboy style that was a bit messy due to the hood. Her face was finally able to been seen, allowing them, Vivian mostly, to finally put a face to the voice. Her sharp features gave her a stronger appearance; with her tall, pointed nose, her narrowed, brown eyes, and her thin, expressionless lips. Her skin was a pale tone and she was rather short; her cloak made her seem taller than she was somehow.

"My name is Xia," she introduced herself. "And I'm trying to help."

* * *

 **I have a poll on my profile which will be present until October 24th. It will be helping choose the next story to replace "The End" in the lineup. "The End" is my one of my** ** _Descendants_** **story and will be finishing its first arc, the "Aladdin/Jafar Arc", come end of October. While it will be returning in January, I will be starting a new story. The choices are between a** ** _Kingdom Hearts_** **story, a** ** _Winx_** **story, and a** ** _Fullmetal Alchemist_** **story. The popular choice will be picked and characters will be accepted from October 24th to Halloween (31st). The story will then premiere on November 1st. Remember to vote for your favourite and continue to read** ** _The Struggle of the Fiends!_** **:)**

First idea is a Kingdom Hearts story titled **_Kingdom Hearts Debut._** It is based in the fictional Florida town, Perdu, in 2002. The first Kingdom Hearts game is just coming out, but instead of the PS1 game we all know, it is a computer mmorpg. The story focuses on a group of players trying to figure out the secret of the game, while trying to balance their social lives as well.

 ** _OR_**

The second idea is a Winx story titled **_Fly Free From Me._** It is based in 1985, near the end of the golden age of arcade games. The world is greeted with the first game of its kind, a virtual reality mmorpg. Only a couple hundred of people were able to get the special computer and equipment used to run the game. The ones who were able to were incredibly happy until they realized, while playing it, there was a glitch in the game.

 ** _OR_**

The third idea is a Fullmetal Alchemist story titled **_Kinzoku Jumon._** It is based in the fictional Japanese city of Futatabi set in modern day (and slightly in the equally fictional Chinese town, Zaici). A new game has come out based on the popular anime _Fullmetal Alchemist_. Most players are having fun and not noticing the strange things going on in the game/real world. But there is a small group that is taking notice. The story focuses on a group of players both in and out of the game. It is a bit darker than the Kingdom Hearts story.


End file.
